Torrential rains in UAE disrupt flights’ operation at Lahore airport
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Heavy rains lashing different cities of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for the last couple of days have also disrupted the flights’ operation at Lahore's Allama Iqbal International Airport, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Wednesday.
Pakistan International Airline’s (PIA) Lahore to Dubai flight PK-203; Dubai to Lahore flight PK-204, and Lahore to Sharjah flight PK-185 had to be cancelled.
Similarly, SereneAir’s flight from Lahore to Dubai ER-1723 was delayed by more than 10 hours, while ER-1724 will now reach Lahore from Dubai tomorrow morning after a delay of nine hours.
Emirates flight EK-622, from Dubai to Lahore, was delayed by three and a half hours, while last night Lahore-Dubai flight EK-623 was also delayed by four hours.
Likewise, Airblue’s Lahore to Dubai flight, PA-416 was also delayed, while Dubai to Lahore flight PA-411 was delayed by three and a half hours.
Dubai’s major international airport diverted scores of incoming flights on Tuesday as heavy rains lashed the United Arab Emirates, causing widespread flooding around the desert country.
The world's busiest air hub for international passengers confirmed a halt to arrivals at 7:26 pm (1526 GMT) before announcing a "gradual resumption" more than two hours later.
Earlier the airport, which had been expecting more than 100 flight arrivals on Tuesday evening, took the equally unusual step of briefly halting its operations in the chaos caused by the storm.
Dubai, the Middle East's financial centre, has been paralysed by the torrential rain that caused floods across the UAE and Bahrain and left 18 dead in Oman on Sunday and Monday.
Dubai airport operations were suspended for 25 minutes in the afternoon before resuming. Unconfirmed images on social media showed planes taxiing across an apron flooded with standing water.
Departure flights remained in operation during the evening but were plagued with delays and cancellations. Access roads to the airport were also badly flooded.
Similar scenes were repeated across Dubai and elsewhere in the UAE as the oil-rich Gulf state, better known for its arid climate and intense summer heat, reeled from the storm.
Both Oman and the UAE, which hosted last year's COP28 UN climate talks, have previously warned that global warming is likely to lead to more flooding.
Friederike Otto, a leader in the field of assessing the role of climate change on specific extreme weather events, said it was likely that global warming played a part.
"It is highly likely that the deadly and destructive rain in Oman and Dubai was made heavier by human-caused climate change," said Otto, of the Grantham Institute for Climate Change at Imperial College London.
Reporter: Saeed Ahmad Saeed